The Dayton Dragons scored six two-out runs in the fifth and sixth innings combined to take down the Quad Cities River Bandits 8-5 on Thursday night at Modern Woodmen Park. Dragons leadoff hitter Michael Siani went 3-5 with five runs batted in. The River Bandits (15-10, 58-33) entered the fifth
The Dayton Dragons scored six two-out runs in the fifth and sixth innings combined to take down the Quad Cities River Bandits 8-5 on Thursday night at Modern Woodmen Park. Dragons leadoff hitter Michael Siani went 3-5 with five runs batted in.
The River Bandits (15-10, 58-33) entered the fifth inning holding a 3-2 lead and starting pitcher Brett Daniels retired the first two batters of the frame. With two outs, Randy Ventura started a rally with a bunt single. He went to second on a wild pitch, but rounded the base too far and became stuck in a rundown between second and third base. Ventura found a way to avoid a tag attempt by second baseman Trey Dawson and scramble back to the base to keep the inning alive. That was important because Siani tied the game with a single in the next at bat. After Daniels walked Claudio Finol, Mariel Bautista tripled down the left field line to plate two more and give Dayton a 5-3 cushion.
The sixth inning followed a similar trajectory for the Dragons (12-14, 40-56). Brian Rey opened the inning with a single and was able to advance to second when Grae Kessinger misplayed a groundball from Morgan Lofstrom. With two outs, Ventura slapped an RBI single into shallow left and Siani followed with a two-run triple into the right field corner that stretched the lead to 8-3.
The Bandits had one last gasp in the seventh inning against the Dayton bullpen. Alex McKenna was hit by a pitch to open the frame and raced to third on a double down the right field line off the bat of David Hensley. They trimmed the deficit by a run when Alex Holderbach beat out an infield single to short. In the next at bat, Jonathan Lacroix drove a double to the warning track in right that scored Hensley and reduced the margin to 8-5. Holderbach also tried to score from first on the play, but was thrown out on a strong relay throw from shortstop Miguel Hernandez and the Bandits would not score again.
Dayton had taken an early 2-0 lead in the top of the third inning when a walk and error were followed by a two-run single from Siani. The Bandits bounced back to grab the lead in the bottom half on the strength of four consecutive singles. The last two base hits in that run, from Trey Dawson and Austin Dennis, drove in runs to tie the game. A sacrifice fly from Ramiro Rodriguez gave the Bandits a 3-2 lead.
Dragons reliever Carlos Machorro entered the game with one out in the third inning and worked 3.2 perfect innings out of the bullpen to collect the win. River Bandits starter Brett Daniels surrendered five runs, three earned, in 4.2 innings as he was saddled with the loss. Matt Ruppenthal worked the final 4.1 innings without giving up an earned run.
In addition to the exploits of Siani, Dayton received two hits from both Juan Martinez and Ventura with the latter scoring three runs. Holderbach and Lacroix both notched multiple hits for Quad Cities.
The rubber match of the three-game series will take place on Friday night at 6:35 p.m. RHP Jose Bravo (1-2, 3.78) will take the hill for the Bandits while Dayton calls on RHP Adrian Rodriguez (4-2, 4.58). It is Child Safety Night at the ballpark with a Plastic Tote Bag Giveaway presented by Per Mar Security. A fireworks show will follow the game thanks to Smart Toyota.
All River Bandits games are broadcast on 1170 K-BOB and TuneIn Radio. Home games are also available with video on MiLB.TV.
